Tipster Leah Stafford sends us a tip on determining the scale to use on objects when viewing them in AutoCAD's paper space viewports.

"I searched all over for this tip, and finally figured it out on my own. I'm using AutoCAD 2010, but I'm sure this will work on any AutoCAD versions that use viewports and scales.

"This tip involves calculating the viewport scale so that an object in model space will measure a specific length in paper space. For example, if you have a building that is 302' in length in model space and you want it to appear 15" in length on paper space, divide the desired length of the object in paper space by the length in model space. So 15 / 302 = 0.0497. Go back to paper space, select the viewport, and add a scale of .0497 paper units = 12 drawing units. Apply this to the viewport, and there you go."

Notes from Cadalyst Tip Patrol: There are many ways to make our drawings in AutoCAD. The method used depends on the information available and the desired results. That is where model space and paper space play a big part — these two drawing realms give us much flexibility. We can create our designs in model space at a 1:1 scale, so we know we are drawing things properly, then go to paper space to display our model. Scaling can be tricky. Here is a tip that I use: Divide the scale you want your object to be by its current scale. In this example, we want the scale to be 15 units, and it is currently 302, so 15/302 = 0.0497 units. But make sure your units are the same!

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User comments

Comment by Kellogg,c. Frank

Posted on 2010-11-15 15:55:13

My Architect's scale does not have a side for .0497:1
I know plans or spec's usually have a disclaimer somewhere that says
Do Not Scale Plans, but I don't think it is wise to deviate from the
accepted scales, either Architectural or Engineering.
.0497 is awfully close to 1:20, so use that if you can.
3/4" = 1' (1:16) is a close standard Architectural scale, but then your
building is almost 19" long. 1/2" = 1' gets it down to 12-1/2"
I attached a list of the conversion factors for typical viewport scales.
Frank

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